Age estimation from sternum of eastern Indian population: Autopsy based study

Abstract

The age determination of an individual is indispensable in various civil and criminal cases. The sternum is one of the key bones for age estimation beyond 25 years. Many studies were done in the past on age determination from the sternum had variable and inconclusive results. Further, the region-specific research on the sternum for age determination is lacking from the eastern Indian population. The present study was done to examine the sternum for its fusion status along each segment, mesosternum-xiphisternal (MXJ) junction, and manubrium-sternal (MSJ) joint by direct inspection. This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in the mortuary of a tertiary health care center in ABC. 102 sterna were collected from known corpses during autopsy which included 73 males and 29 females aged between 6 years to 85 years. The earliest complete fusion of manubrium with the body was observed to be 17 years in females and 24 years in males. Whereas the maximum number of cases of complete fusion was observed among 51-60 years of age irrespective of the sexes, indicative of a very limited role of the sternum in estimating the age. The fusion of each segment of mesosternum has utility in determining age beyond 20 years and the xiphisternal joint remains reliable corroborative evidence for the age beyond 40 years.